Blogger: Rachel Kent
Many authors seem to think that deadlines are flexible dates. They’ll come to their agent asking for the agent to get an extension the day before the book is due without any doubt that the extension will be granted.
We agents feel very nervous when we get these emails or phone calls from our clients. Here’s why:
1) Most contracts call for the book to be due on a certain date and if the book isn’t turned in by that day the publishing house has the right to cancel the contract–if that happens the author has to pay back the entire advance. I’ve never had this happen and we all hope it would only happen in an extreme case, but by missing your deadline you put the book deal at risk and if you’ve already spent your advance the risk is even greater because you might not have the money that will be required of you if the publishing house decides to pull the plug.
2) It reflects badly on the author as a professional and puts future contracts at risk. If the author can’t keep a deadline, it shows that that author’s word isn’t as reliable as another author’s might be, so if it comes down to a decision between two books, the publishing house is more likely to offer a contract to an author who turns in his/her books on time. In the same way, it can damage an agent’s reputation too. By bringing an author to a house we are vouching for them as reliable, wonderful people and we feel let down when our clients don’t stick to their agreements.
3) It throws off the schedule set by the publishing house at the time the offer is made. Many departments in a publishing house have set their schedules to fit that book in and when it’s late everyone’s plan is thrown off. This is especially painful for publishing houses when they’ve already been advertising a book’s release and the due date needs to be changed. Marketing dollars have been wasted in this case, and that money isn’t going to be replenished for when the book is finally scheduled to release so the book is more likely to flop.
4) If the publisher says no and they won’t extend the deadline, there’s no time to finish the book when the agent is alerted last minute that there’s a deadline problem.
Now, there are always circumstances that can’t be helped and deadlines are missed. To avoid this as much as possible be sure to start writing your book soon after the contract is signed. Don’t wait to start until the last minute. Allow for a buffer of time to account for the unexpected.
Starting early will also allow you to see early on if the deadline is a problem. That way you can alert your agent and publishing house with enough time for the missed deadline to be less of an issue.
Also, if you think a suggested deadline is going to be a problem at the time the offer is made, don’t sign that contract until your hesitation is addressed. It’s much better to get the date adjusted before the contract is finalized.
Remember to take your deadlines seriously so that you can be the best writer you can be.
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There’s a reason they call it a DEADline. You meet it, and then you lay exhausted on the bed thinking, “I’ll never move again.” Until the next deadline.
Lord, grant me the strength to meet my deadlines. Grant me the wisdom to beat them.
Haha, love this, Shirlee. I think deadlines take a lot of advanced planning and a lot of discipline to keep your derriere in the chair.
Hi Shirlee,
That’s really funny!
Hi Rachel,
I never considered all the pressures you face when an author doesn’t meet a deadline.
I understand life can intrude, so I get why authors sometimes get away to finish a book on time on time. It seems like this is one more way Christian authors should be different.
Thanks for sharing!
This is so surprising to me. I can understand things like unavoidable catastrophes, a death in the family or personal illness, in which case I suppose you’d have to see what could be done … but I don’t get how a professional would treat a deadline from a publishing house with a laissez faire attitude. I mean, why? Talk about biting the hand that feeds. Interesting though. I guess everyone is different. 🙁
I love the phrase “suggested due dates”. All my kids had due dates, none of which were relevant. In order, they arrived 2.5, 5, 4 and 6 weeks early. By kid #2 we knew to be ready in advance.
As for publishing due dates? It only stands to reason, from a business aspect, that *my* due date is not just mine. Even when I was a teenager, working at camp, having one person on the team not do their job meant everyone had to scramble. I learned early on to think of any work I was doing also having a domino effect on the people around me.
Meeting deadlines seems like it should be part of an author’s job description. A nonnegotiable, unless extreme circumstances prevent an author from completing the work before the DEADline.
*I’m not published, and I don’t want to talk as if I know all that happens for an author, but I hope that if/when I receive a contract, I’ll be able to get my book in early. That’s my goal, and my mindset.
*And, I know that this is easier said than done. 🙂
He who pays not meet obeisance to the courtesies of timeliness forfeits trust in greater things.
Verily, ’tis true!
Good morning, Rachel. I actually have a question for you. I published my first fiction novel on Amazon last September. It’s part one of a series of three. I have been prayerfully considering submitting a query for it, but I still don’t know if that’s the direction God wants for me. I understand all contracts are different, but would a contract for the first book typically include the rights to the next two books, and therefore put a deadline on them?
I have no idea how fast I could write under deadline since I’ve never had to do it before (unless you count school assignments). I did work in the advertising department of a newspaper for a while, so I’m more than a little familiar with deadlines (but that job was artwork and layout, not writing).
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I would definitely want a generous deadline in my first contract so I could see if I could beat it. It would be great if my agent set me an artificial deadline (without telling me it’s artificial). For instance, saying that while the contract says one date, the editor really needs it by an earlier date. That way there’s a built in cushion in case I’m slower than I realize.
Same here, Elissa. I’ve only finished one book so far, not under contract, and it took me three years! But that’s writing on the side, after being a teacher, dad, and husband.
As we got within three months of the deadline on our technical monograph, my coauthor developed carpal tunnel syndrome. We were both working our regular jobs and writing in the evening, so too many computer hours got him. We asked for an extension, and he finished his sections of the first draft dictating to his 8- and 10-year-old kids and his wife. Then we edited each other’s contributions to polish the whole. Other than changing our American spellings to British, the editor changed virtually nothing, which may have helped us get back closer to schedule. We had already provided samples of what was coming, so the editors (who had requested the work in the first place) knew what sort of work they would be getting when we did finish. That probably contributed to them being so willing to help us out with the extension.
Short of such serious life events, I can’t imagine why an author would think it was alright to not meet a deadline.
Mark Twain said that if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said. That is applicable to deadlines in the publishing industry. If you see you’re going to miss one, let your agent know ASAP. Consistently missing deadlines is the kiss of death–or, at least, one of them–for an author. Thanks for reinforcing this point.
A friend tells me I have an hyper-developed sense of deadline. I blame my journalistic background. When I’m given a book deadline, I always up it several weeks if not months. It helps fuel my writing. Maybe it’s a habit, because I still write for the paper and still face those deadlines on a weekly and sometimes hourly basis. But oh how sweet the feeling of relief once the work is turned in! As Rachel explains, there is a domino effect where deadlines are concerned – others are affected as well. We don’t write in a vacuum.
That preaches! I’ve never missed a deadline in all my 67 books. Why risk disappointing an editor and the whole publishing team? Nope, get that manuscript in on time.
This is an interesting post to me. I’m under contract with HarperCollins, and it’s always my EDITOR who suggests we push the deadline back.
I’m surprised that people would be so rude and inconsiderate. Unless there’s an emergency, as others have mentioned, writers, especially Christian ones, should keep their promises.
True Words, Rachel. Thank you for letting us behind the curtain to see this from an agent and publisher’s perspective.
I’ve heard some amazing authors say that they write one book a year. That sounds wonderful. Gives you plenty of time to live life and if you work diligently, you’ll feel blessed and not stressed. We writers work so hard to hope to be worthy enough in our writing for an agent to take us on, and hopefully a publisher … I can’t imagine waiting so long and working so hard to throw it all away over time. That’s when we’d need to be taken out behind the woodshed. 🙂
I’m looking forward to the day I have a deadline!!
*Thanks for another informative post, Rachel. I always enjoy hearing a point of view from the other side of the publishing fence. It’s easy for an unpublished writer to imagine the grass will be greener and neatly mowed once he/she crosses over. I love how the agents at B&S present a writer’s ultimate goal as attainable, yet still keep it “real.”